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Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The Department of Health announced today that a new Outreach Oral Health Programme for Pre-school Children will be launched on September 1, offering students free annual oral screening and preventive dental care on campus.

Under the initiative, designated professional dental teams will visit kindergartens to provide participating children aged 32 months or older with free oral assessments, screenings and topical fluoride applications as needed to prevent tooth decay. Teams will also issue individualised oral health reports and advice to parents.

To build healthy long-term habits, dental teams will additionally conduct oral health workshops for teaching staff, equipping them to effectively convey dental hygiene messages in the classroom.

The programme spans all 18 districts in Hong Kong, with 23 appointed service providers proactively contacting local kindergartens to arrange visits. As of mid-August, 680 of Hong Kong’s 949 kindergartens – over 70% – have enrolled, benefiting tens of thousands of children and families.

The department urged remaining kindergartens and parents to join the initiative. Parents can sign up directly through their child’s kindergarten, while interested schools may email am3_cds@dh.gov.hk for details.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

​The Labour Department’s Youth Employment & Training Programme (YETP) will once again hold the Greater Bay Area Work Experience Attachment Programme (WEP) in early November. Trainees will be assigned to a one-month workplace attachment in Greater Bay Area (GBA) Mainland cities.

This year’s WEP opens for applications from today until October 9. Young people aged 18 to 29 with an educational attainment at the sub-degree level or below are welcome to apply. Applicants must be YETP trainees and have attained the age of 18 by the application deadline.

Trainees who pass the selection interview will attend a two-day preparatory training course to gain knowledge about living and working in the GBA, and set off for a one-month workplace attachment in early November.

During WEP, trainees will be provided with free accommodation, weekend activities, a workplace attachment training allowance and Mainland support services.

Call 5576 6169 for enquiries.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The Transport Department has reminded students, especially those attending a new school, to familiarise themselves with public transport routes to schools and allow for more travelling time on the first school day.

The department issued the reminder today, advising major public transport operators to provide adequate services to cater to the demand on that day. It also advised motorists to avoid school areas if possible.

Drivers of nanny vans and school buses should drive with care and must not leave schoolchildren unattended in vehicles.

Parents, guardians or private car drivers carrying child passengers aged below eight and less than 1.35 metres in height must provide and use a child restraint device, such as a child safety seat.

Residents are urged to check media broadcasts, the department’s website, or its mobile app “HKeMobility” before leaving home.

Call the department’s hotline at 2804 2600 or the 1823 call centre for enquiries.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The Home Affairs Department today held the Carnival of Care and Harmony to promote interaction among ethnicities and showcase care and inclusion.

Through multicultural performances, interactive game booths, and first-hand user experiences, the event helped participants learn about Hong Kong’s multiculturalism.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Chief Secretary Chan Kwok-ki noted that ethnic minorities may still face daily challenges, such as language barriers and cultural differences.

Mr Chan said the Government is dedicated to providing comprehensive support services to help them fully integrate into society and realise their potential.

He highlighted that 10 Support Service Centres for Ethnic Minorities operate in districts with larger non-ethnic Chinese populations. Across these centres,12 social worker-led Ethnic Minority Care Teams have been established.

Dedicated Youth and Women’s Networks also organise targeted programmes, including career training, Mainland exchange visits and health seminars. These initiatives help participants build social connections, integrate into the community, and better understand the country’s development.

During the event, four youth service users shared their experiences from Mainland exchange tours to Guangzhou, Zhuhai and Shenzhen. These trips helped them explore national history and culture, while gaining insight into development opportunities through visits to technology parks, museums and space centres.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

     The Mainland Civil and Commercial Legal Practice Training Course 2026, organised by the Hong Kong International Legal Talents Training Academy, concluded today (August 22). This two-day course, organised by the Academy specifically for local legal and dispute resolution practitioners, aimed to deepen the local sector’s understanding of the Chinese Mainland’s civil and commercial legal system, practical operation, and latest developments, while fostering professional exchange and experience-sharing between the Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland. The course attracted over 400 registrations.
 
     Addressing the opening ceremony, the Secretary for Justice, Mr Paul Lam, SC, noted that, as the country continues to advance high-level opening up, there is a substantial increase in the demand for cross-border legal services. He said that the Hong Kong legal sector requires more talent equipped with knowledge of, and practical capabilities in, cross-border civil and commercial law. This course directly addressed such pressing need, and is of importance in promoting legal exchange and co-operation between the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong, and enhancing the standard of legal services.
 
     In his closing remarks, the Deputy Secretary for Justice, Dr Cheung Kwok-kwan, said that as arbitration services in the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong are developing rapidly, Hong Kong will fully leverage its institutional and professional services strengths, and support the Chinese Mainland and overseas arbitration institutions in expanding their international operations and establishing branches in Hong Kong. These efforts will help attract high-calibre arbitration professionals, further enhancing Hong Kong’s competitiveness as an international legal and dispute resolution services centre.
 
     After running the inagural Mainland Civil and Commercial Legal Practice Training Course in 2025, the course this year focused on a range of key areas of civil and commercial law practice in the Chinese Mainland. Lectures covered topics including mutual legal assistance arrangements in civil and commercial matters, arbitration in the Chinese Mainland, and investment protection agreements. In addition, two thematic panel discussions examined, from different perspectives, the evolving landscape and challenges Chinese enterprises face in their overseas development, as well as the development in international investment arbitration, further enhancing the Hong Kong legal and dispute resolution sectors’ understanding of the Chinese Mainland civil and commercial legal system and the relevant practical operation. Speakers included senior judges from the Supreme People’s Court and other courts in the Chinese Mainland, representatives of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Commerce, experienced legal professionals from Hong Kong and overseas, representatives of Chinese enterprises, and arbitration experts, providing participants with a valuable platform for practical exchange.
 
     The Academy will continue organising targeted training programmes to strengthen the understanding of the Chinese Mainland legal system and its practical developments. It will also promote exchange and collaboration among legal and dispute resolution professionals in Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland, thereby consolidating Hong Kong’s status as an international legal and dispute resolution services centre, supporting its development as a legal capacity-building hub, and contributing more effectively to the country’s development of foreign-related rule of law.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

     The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, met the media with the Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung; the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms Mable Chan; and the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mrs Ingrid Yeung, after inspecting the stress test of passenger and vehicular flows at Huanggang Port today (August 22). Following are the remarks of Mr Chan and Mr Tang:

Reporter: Good afternoon. Which part of today’s drill involves co-operation from the Shenzhen authority, and what potential risks have been discovered in today’s drill? Besides installing more signage, what other improvement works will you anticipate? Thank you.

Secretary for Security: First of all, regarding the co-operation with the Shenzhen side, I think, obviously, be it the e-Channel or the manual channel, actually our civil servants did go through the gates and did go through the real process. We are very grateful to the Shenzhen side for its co-operation. Talking about the signage, based on the experience of the exercise on the 15th of August, we have a significant improvement in terms of the signage, and through today’s exercise, we identified some further improvement measures, for example, in how to set up lines for different buses or different transport. I think this is a further area for improvement.

Chief Secretary for Administration: I want to supplement that, overall, the drill has been very successful and was very smooth. I do not see or identify any potential risk so far.

Reporter: Firstly, how many gate machines were put into operation today for people crossing between Hong Kong and Shenzhen? And have all the machines’ software been running normally? And have there been any issues? If so, how were they handled? And the second question is: some vehicle owners have reported traffic congestion on the roads from Sheung Shui to Guangdong vehicle lanes. How will this situation be improved and how will this be handled in actual future scenarios? Thank you.

Secretary for Security: For the immigration counters, today we have utilised about two-thirds of our overall counters, including the e-Channels or the manual channels. We actually did the going-through process and overall it was very smooth. We have noticed about the heavy traffic around this area. Actually, this is the purpose of the exercise to identify areas – we are talking about private car of about 1 000 trips, which is a very high volume in comparison with an ordinary situation. This is the purpose. We tried to push it to the limit. Although the traffic was relatively heavy, it’s smooth.

Chief Secretary for Administration: I want to supplement that out of the 90 immigration counters and e-Channels (for each direction), 60 were used today. Although only two-thirds of the capacity, we can still see that the whole operation was very smooth and could handle all 10 000 passengers smoothly. For the remaining 30 immigration channels, we need some slight adjustments before they can be put into operation. So we are confident that when 90 of them are in full operation, we can handle all the passengers very smoothly.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the remarks.)

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

     The Information Services Department (ISD) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Co-operation (MOU) today (August 22) to strengthen collaboration and exchanges on matters related to media and communication, and to bring the good stories of Hong Kong to the global stage.
 
     The MOU was signed by the Director of Information Services, Mr John Tse, and ABU Secretary-General Mr Ahmed Nadeem. Under the agreement, both parties will seek to establish a dedicated communication mechanism for the exchange of views on media and communication co-operation; collaborate on hosting and supporting joint events in Hong Kong; leverage ABU platforms to present compelling stories of Hong Kong to global audiences; and facilitate and support visits by media professionals from ABU member organisations to Hong Kong to promote reciprocal dialogue and mutual understanding. 
 
    This is the first such MOU that the ISD has signed with a regional broadcasting union. 
 
     Mr Tse said that the expansive global footprint of the ABU aligns closely with the ISD’s objective of engaging regional and international media, and the ISD can support the reporting of ABU members by sharing Hong Kong’s accurate and up-to-date news stories and materials, paving the way for a long-term and mutually beneficial partnership.
 
     “Upon signing the MOU, the ISD will immediately initiate discussions on the arrangements for inviting senior and mid-level editorial staff from ABU member organisations to visit Hong Kong at the end of this year to learn about the city’s latest developments. We will also support the ABU in hosting media events in Hong Kong next year,” Mr Tse said.
 
     “As we prepare to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region next year, we will also make good use of the ABU’s international network and platforms to share information on Hong Kong’s celebratory activities and achievements over the past three decades with wide audiences around the world. It will also help global audiences to keep abreast of the latest developments in Hong Kong, and learn about the emerging opportunities in areas ranging from business and investment, to education, arts, culture and much more.”
 
     Established in 1964, the ABU is a not-for-profit, non-governmental professional association dedicated to advancing broadcasting in the Asia-Pacific, promoting the collective interests of television and radio broadcasters, and facilitating regional and international media co-operation. Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, it is demographically and geographically the world’s largest broadcasting union, encompassing more than 220 member organisations across 66 countries and serving more than half the world’s population. 

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government today (August 22) conducted the first stress test of passenger and vehicular flows with the relevant units of Shenzhen at the Huanggang Port.

Over 10 000 civil servants from over 70 bureaux and departments had been mobilised to participate in the stress test. They were instructed to take different modes of public transport to arrive at the port, then practised immigration procedures before departure. Participants participated in cyclical trials involving more than 400 departures using vehicles dispatched by public transport operators to simulate the flow of people and vehicles arriving and departing from the port.

The drill marked the first trial of the “collaborative inspection” automated channels for passenger clearance. Participants departed through the “collaborative inspection” automated channels or manual counters at the departure hall with their Mainland Travel Permits for Hong Kong and Macao Residents (commonly known as the Home Visit Permit), and then returned through the automated channels or manual counters at the Shenzhen side’s departure hall with their Hong Kong identity cards. This exercise tested the operation and tuning of the automated channels and related systems, and passenger flow management. The stress test also included a “crowd concentrated-flow test”. A large number of participants were held on designated floors as instructed, and were subsequently released in several major batches within a short period of time, so as to simulate a situation where a large number of arriving passengers proceed to the public transport interchange during peak hours, thereby testing the management of passenger and vehicular flows, as well as co-ordination of supporting arrangements.

Meanwhile, the drill also conducted a vehicle-flow stress test involving nearly 1 000 vehicle trips on the “joint one-stop” vehicle lane level, and invited automobile associations to assist in organising private vehicles to participate together. Participating vehicles were instructed to enter the port through the new connecting road in batches. Then, they simulated the process of undergoing risk assessment by the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department at the “customs front kiosks”, and the process of queuing up to enter the “joint one-stop” vehicle lanes for inspection and clearance or going to the inspection area for further inspection, in order to test the vehicular flow management and on-site guidance.

The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, accompanied by the Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung; the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mrs Ingrid Yeung; and the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms Mable Chan, inspected the drill. Mr Chan said that the drill was conducted smoothly, with a large number of passengers and vehicles entering and leaving the port building in an orderly manner and a public transport interchange capable of absorbing substantial passenger flows within a short period of time. He noted that the test closely resembled the situation at the port under high load, effectively testing the emergency coordination capabilities among departments. He hoped that all parties would summarise the experiences from the drill, continue refining details, and work closely with the Shenzhen side to press ahead with the various preparatory tasks at full steam. Upon confirmation by both sides that the port is ready for safe and smooth operation, the governments of Guangdong and Hong Kong will finalise the official opening date of the Huanggang Port and make timely announcements to the public.

Representatives from various bureaux, departments and organisations participated in the drill, including the Security Bureau, the Transport and Logistics Bureau, the Civil Service Bureau, the Hong Kong Police Force, the Transport Department, the Highways Department, the Immigration Department, the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department, the Department of Health, the Fire Services Department, the Architectural Services Department, the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department, the Government Property Agency, the Digital Policy Office, the Office of the Communications Authority, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, the Civil Aid Service, the Auxiliary Medical Service, and various public transport operators.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government today (August 22) expressed strong dissatisfaction with and firm opposition to, and strongly condemned, the baseless slanders and smearing against the HKSAR by various western countries, anti-China media, organisations and politicians, using the court’s verdict of conviction yesterday (August 21) concerning the incitement to subversion case of the “Hong Kong Alliance” (the Alliance). 

A spokesman for the HKSAR Government pointed out, “The Constitution is the fundamental law of the state, forming the most important part of the constitutional order of the HKSAR. The Preamble to the Constitution makes it clear that the leadership by the Communist Party of China (the CPC) is the core and foundation of the constitutional order of the People’s Republic of China (the PRC). No country’s constitution would allow citizens to subvert the constitutional order and the fundamental system of the country established by the constitution.” 

The spokesman stressed, “The reasons for verdict handed down by the court clearly emphasised that the defendants were put on trial not because of their political views or beliefs. The court would only consider the laws and evidence relevant to the case to decide whether the prosecution is able to prove the charge beyond reasonable doubt. The court also pointed out that the defendants had all along been hostile towards the CPC and the Central Government under its leadership. After the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law (HKNSL), the defendants refused to pull back from the brink and were bent on embracing the resistance line of the Alliance to the very end. Even though the defendants knew that what they had said and done might have already gone beyond the scope of lawful freedom of expression, they paid no regard to it.” 

“The courts have earlier clarified the boundaries of exercising freedoms and rights. The Court of Appeal’s judgment in another case affirmed that criticising the Government, the administration of justice including judgments of courts, or engaging in debates about or raising objections to government policies or decisions, however strong, vigorous or critical that may be, does not constitute a seditious intention. The issue lies in whether the person concerned has the intention to incite hatred or subversion. Based on this, as far as this case is concerned, the defendants intended to cause others to lose confidence in the CPC by stirring up hostility and causing division, so as to achieve the objective of undermining the fundamental system of the PRC. Their conspiracy was abundantly clear, which must be brought to justice.” 

The spokesman added, “Just as the case with other places in the world, many rights and freedoms are not absolute. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights also expressly states that some of them, including freedom of speech, may be subject to restrictions as prescribed by law that are necessary for protection of national security, public safety, public order or the rights and freedoms of others, etc. Members of the public should not be misled by the external forces’ attempts to smear, but must be able to distinguish between right and wrong, and clearly understand the difference between this case and the normal situation regarding the exercise of freedoms of association, assembly and speech. 

“Hong Kong is a society underpinned by the rule of law. The HKNSL and the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance clearly stipulate that the principle of the rule of law shall be adhered to in preventing, suppressing and imposing punishment for offences endangering national security. As guaranteed by the Basic Law and the Hong Kong Bill of Rights, all defendants charged with a criminal offence shall have the right to a fair trial by the Judiciary exercising independent judicial power. The verdict handed down by the court in this case is forceful and compelling, as well as well-reasoned and sound, meticulously explained the court’s analysis of the relevant legal principles and evidence, as well as the reasons of the conviction.” 

The spokesman reiterated, “It is the common obligation of all the people of China, including Hong Kong compatriots, to safeguard the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the PRC. Hong Kong residents must clearly recognise the fact that incitement to subversion is an extremely serious offence. The HKSAR Government will resolutely combat acts and activities endangering national security.”